Vertical drains along with the preloading technique have been commonly used to enhance the consolidation rate of dredged placement formation. In practice, vertical drains are usually installed in the process of self-weight consolidation of a dredged soil deposit because this process takes considerable time to be completed, which makes conventional analytical or numerical models difficult to quantify the consolidation behavior. In this paper, we propose a governing partial differential equation and develop a numerical model for 2-D axisymmetric non-linear finite strain consolidation considering self-weight consolidation to predict the behavior of a vertical drain in the dredged placement foundation which is installed during the self-weight consolidation. In order to verify the developed model in this paper, results of the numerical analysis are compared with that of the lab-scaled self-weight consolidation test. In addition, the model verification has been carried out by comparing with the simplified method. The comparisons show that the developed model can properly simulate the consolidation of the dredged placement formation with the vertical drains installed during the self-weight consolidation. Finally, the effect of construction schedule of vertical drains and of pre-loading during the self-weight consolidation is examined by simulating an imaginary dredged material placement site with a thickness of 10 m and 20 m, respectively. This simulation infers the applicability of the proposed method in this research for designing a soil improvement in a soft dredged deposit when vertical drains and pre-loading are implemented before the self-weight consolidation ceases.

At-rest lateral stress coefficient that is used for the evaluation of geotechnical structures such as foundations and retaining walls plays a significant role in the analysis and design, as a state variable of in-situ stress condition. In the widely applied Jaky`s Ko equation stress condition can be inferred from the internal friction angle obtainable from the laboratory experimentation whereas the eguation mares it challenging to evaluate the influences and criteria of particle characteristics which is essential for the application of friction angles in practices. Thus, this study experimentally explored the behaviors of Ko depending on the relative density, particle shape, and surface roughness effect during a range of loading stages. The Ko values of Jumumjin sand, glass beads, and etched glass beads were measured using a customized Ko device housing strain gauges during loading-unloading-reloading steps, and the effect of dominant factors on Ko is analyzed. Results show that the high Ko prevails for both round and angular specimens with low relative density and the surface roughness has a nominal effect. The angular particles exhibit low Ko for specimens with similar relative density. The characteristics of relevance between Ko and friction angles with varying relative density are also investigated based on the experimental results using empirical correlations and previously reported values.

Pile foundation for transmission tower constructed in weak ground can cause the damage of the tower due to the different settlement between the foundations. In Japan and USA, connected-pile foundations whose 4 foundations are connected each other by beams were used for transmission tower (TEPCO 1988, IEEE 2001). Resistance increasing factors for connected-pile foundation signify increasing amount of resistance due to the effect of connected-pile material. In this study, we performed model lateral load tests of connected-pile foundations for transmission tower and found the resistance increasing factors for connected-pile foundation. The tests were performed in silty clay, and the resistance increasing factors were founded in various conditions that lateral load directions and height, the stiffness of beams in the connected-pile foundations were changed. The resistance increasing factors from our research were presented as a function of normal lateral loading height and normal stiffness of the connected-pile material. The resistances which were estimated from the resistance increasing factors were similar to measured values.

In the conventional design of a piled raft, the axial resistance offered by the raft itself is typically neglected and only that of the group pile is accounted in estimating the total axial resistance of the piled raft. As a consequence, piled rafts are usually designed conservatively by neglecting the raft resistance. In this study, a series of centrifuge model tests have been performed to compare the axial behavior of a group pile with that of a piled raft (both having 16 component piles with an array of ) in sands with different relative densities and in clays with different preconsolidated pressures. The test results revealed that, with respect to the allowable settlement of 25 millimeters for bridge foundations, the piled raft resistances were greater than those of the group pile by 13% for dense sand, by 22% for loose sand, by 30% for stiff clay, and by 22% for soft clay. Furthermore, the ratio of piled raft resistance to group pile resistance increased as the settlement increased.

The evaluation of shear modulus (or shear wave velocity) profile of the site is very important in various fields of geotechnical engineering and various surface wave methods have applied to determine the shear wave velocity profiles and showed good performance. Surface wave methods evaluate the dispersion curve in the field and determine the shear wave velocity profile through the inversion process. In this paper, the automated inversion process using the genetic algorithm is developed for HWAW method which is one of surface wave methods recently developed. The proposed method uses the error function based on the wavelength domain dispersion curve and can determine the reliable shear wave velocity profile not only in shallow depth but also in deep depth. To estimate the validity of the proposed method, numerical simulations and field test were performed and the proposed method was applied to determine the shear wave velocity profiles. Through the numerical simulations and field applications, the promising potential of the proposed method was verified.

Elastic moduli and behavioral characteristics changes of very widely according to stress level resulting from uniaxial compressive test of sedimentary rock. This means that elastic moduli do not indicate constants but variables. More appropriate and reasonable outcome will be accepted through loading-reloading test in design and construction progress. An attention for behavioral characteristics of elastic moduli shown in low level of stress should be paid.

In this study, the tunnel loads acting on the concrete lining are analyzed by comparing three methods - Terzaghi table, Terzaghi formula and Ground-Lining Interaction (G.L.I) model. The tunnel loads are analyzed by FLAC 2D. And the G.L.I model is analyzed under various rock mass ratings, tunnel depths (20~80m) and in-situ stress ratios (

The expansion of a road on soft ground could induce an additional settlement to the existing road because of the consolidation characteristics of the soft soil layer subjected to additional load by an adjacent banking. In such case, the existing road could be faced with various problems during the stages of the construction and maintenance, such as deterioration of not only the surface smoothness yielding the decrease in automobile performance safety but also the structural stability of the embankment. These kinds of problems are expected to occur more freguently especially for the deep ground level with a fairly thick soft soil layer. Therefore, they should be examined and studied adequately during the design stage. As a reference case study, this paper deals with the project named Namhae Expressway of 2nd Branch with the soft soil layer with the thickness upto about 50m. After a lengthy review of the original design, an improved design is proposed.